A continuing problem in the manufacture of automobiles has been the damage-free handling of body trim moldings during shipment from the supplier to the assembly line and the storage at the line awaiting attachment to the vehicle body. Various types and designs of packaging or dunnage have heretofore been used but what has sufficed in the past is not sufficient to protect the latest forms of trim whose Class A surfaces can be easily scratched or marred. With the development of trim having Class A surfaces that can be easily scratched or marred, the problems of protecting such surfaces during shipment have increased.
Desirably, the nature of the dunnage to handle such trim should be such as to prevent contact of the Class A surfaces with either other trim pieces or with the dunnage itself to prevent scratching or marring of such surfaces. In addition, the dunnage should be as inexpensive as possible because it is used only once, and it should preferrably be capable of storage in a compact space when awaiting use to minimize shipping and storage costs when delivered from the dunnage maker to the automotive trim maker. The dunnage should be dimensionally stable and lightweight, and when in use, should allow the packaging of the maximum number of trim moldings in the most compact space.